Post menopausal and diagnosed with a 3.2 cm endometrioma on my ovary. Should I be worried?
So the background is, I went to urgent care back in March with stomach pains. Doctor thought it was a ruptured appendix, but sent me for a CT scan to verify. Turns out it was diverticulitis, but on the CT scan they noticed a complex cyst on my left ovary, however they couldn't be sure if it was just a fibroid or also a mass.
I was referred for an ultrasound which I had ion April. I got the results later in the afternoon and they marked it as abnormal because they still can't tell if there's a mass attached to the ovary or not. The report says "HISTORY: Possible left adnexal/ovarian mass vs. fibroid on CT". The fibroid isn't big, only 2cm, and the mass they see is 3.5cm.
My doctor sent me a note the next day saying "The ultrasound results still suggest the mass near the left ovary is most likely a fibroid extending out from the surface of the uterus, but the radiologist isn't 100% confident. I'm sending the pictures to our OBGYN surgeons to get their recommendation on next steps." The OBGYN's suggested getting an MRI. After over 2 months of waiting for that (I had to cancel my appt in May and reschedule) I had that done last week.
The results of that are the fibroid and there is a mass on my left ovary which they believe is an endometrioma or possibly a hemorrhagic cyst, but more likely an endometrioma. I was told via a note from the doctor who read the scan that she sent a referral to the gynecologists to schedule an evaluation and that often the best course of treatment is a laparoscopy.
The thing is, I have zero pain from this and wouldn’t have knows about it if it hadn’t been found as an incidental. Is surgery the only option? I mean can an endometrioma be cancerous or turn cancerous?
Hi
. I can see why you are reluctant to have surgery. Any surgery comes with risks plus you have to consider the time spent in recovery and the cost beyond insurance. In doing some light research, I found there is a slightly increased risk of cancer for those who have an endometrioma and are premenopausal, but I haven't found any research specific to postmenopausal women. There are some valid reasons to consider the surgery, however. The main concern is that even an MRI cannot definitively diagnose an endometrioma. You won't know whether for certain whether you are dealing with cancer or some type of mass that will grow and cause future complications without the surgery. Your doctor can monitor the mass over time to look for growth, but you are taking a risk there as well. When is your appointment with the GYN? Is your GYN an endometeriosis specialist? If your GYN has dealt with postmenopausal endometrioma before, that should be helpful in making a decision. I wish I had better advice, but it is a toss-up. You have to weigh the risk of cancer against the risk of surgery. If you decide against surgery, I would push for monitoring every few months until you know for certain that the mass is not growing. Here is an article about endometrioma that might interest you: https://endometriosis.net/clinical/ovarian-endometriomas. I hope you reach a decision that you can be confident in. Please keep us posted. Wishing you the very best. - Lori (Team Member) My appt is actually in about 2 hours! They made it for me pretty quick. I don't know about the doctor, all I know is that she's an OBGYN.
But, I did have the CT scan in March when they first noticed the mass and 4 months later it's still there and still the same 3.2cm size so I don't know if that's good it hasn't grown or bad it hasn't shrunk.
I'll update later today what the doctor said.So the doctor offered laparoscopy for removal of endo and ovary or watch and have an ultrasound every 3 months for the next year. If it doesn't grow or if it shrinks she said that I wouldn't need any more follow up. She said she's pretty certain it's not cancerous but the surgery is the only way to really be sure but if I'm not having any symptoms I could do the wait and see approach. I decided if there's no pain I don't think I need the surgery right now. Hi
. How awesome to hear that it hasn't grown. An ultrasound every three months sounds like the perfect approach. I hope it is just a fibroid and that you don't see any change, but at least you know someone is there, ready to take action, if it does. I hope you will check in again in three months with an update. Warmly, Lori (Team Member)
Well there is a 1.5 x.1.5 fibroid right next to it, which is why they had such a hard time figuring out if this was a mass or not.
